These fish, often kept in reef aquariums, are very wide-spread geographically speaking, and are found in just about every tropical ocean and many tropical seas. The exception is the Atlantic Ocean where year round temperatures are too cold for them, hence their abscence. The Red Sea, on the other hand, has some real interesting varieties of these Tangs. They often differ slightly from their Indo-Pacific counterparts although they are generally considered morphs of the same fishes. Frequently the Red Sea types are more vibrant in colors and may show slight marking differences with the Indo-Pacific varieties (Spotte, 1994).Included in the Zebrasoma family of fish are, amongst others: Z. flavescens (Yellow Tang), Z. scopas (Brown Sailfin Tang), Z. gemmatum (Spotted Sailfin Tang), Z. veliferum (Sailfin Tang), Z. xanthurum (Yellow Tail Sailfin or Purple Tang), and so on.
The large number of types of Zebrasoma species explains, probably, why they are so common in pet stores and may also be the reason why they are actually not that expensive to purchase (all things considered and compared to some other fish). The supply seems to be unending and available year round (which is not the case with all fish).
They like to swim, there is no doubt about that, and like to swim a lot in fact. As a result they are best kept in larger aquariums or in tanks with lots of open spaces (not crowded by large amounts of live rock that restrict their ability to move around). Watch out for too much rock in the tank, not only because it restricts the amount of swimming space but, additionally, because rock with its usual sharp edges, may hurt these fishes when they dashes around the aquarium. Note also that if the tank is not large enough size-wise, in-fighting will be more common, as the fishes attempt to dominate territories and have to constantly fight for them as that territory is being intruded upon by other fishes (whether other Tangs or not). Small territories are not a hallmark of these Tangs. They like large ones, the whole tank is you let them. Because they are generally easy to keep, feed, grow rapidly and do not bother corals, they are one of the prefered species of fish for reef aquariums. Zebrasoma Tangs include a whole variety of types many of which hobbyists wish to add to their aquariums (see list above). One must keep several important factors in mind when doing this: the size of the tank, the type of fish, its colors, the size of the fish, the amount of free swimming space available, and what other fish are already present in the aquarium. Fish with similar colors will often fight, and fish of the same type may fight if not introduced to the aquarium at the same time (for instance Yellow Tangs). This can be avoided and is explained later. It is best to keep them in pairs as that is how they normally live in nature. Two of a kind seems to work better for most hobbyists than a mixture of several different species, although the latter can be done and is frequently what hobbyists do. By this I mean, that individuals of different species are kept in one aquarium.
Not all hobbyists agree with this approach. Often this has to do with the fact that they may have had a bad experience because the tank in which they introduced these fish was too small and infighting did occur, or there was so much rock in the aquarium that the swimming area in a larger tank was greatly reduced. As a result the introduction did not work out and the hobbyist was led to conclude that mixing the fix he or she did mix was not a good idea. This may have been true, but it may instead have been the result of the other limiting factors that I indicated. More on this later.
If your tank is large enough you could, for example, have 2 of 2 different species, and solve the situation in that manner. Although Zebrasoma Tangs will do well if kept alone or in the company of other Zebrasoma species, keeping pairs seems to yield better results, especially in the long term (DeGraaf, 1988).
My personal experience with mixing too many different types is that infighting may/will occur, especially in smaller aquariums. These fishes need "large" territories and "will" fight for it and defend their territories if they need to (Thiel, 1992).
They are herbivores and, therefore, need algae. They also like supplementation of their diet with lettuce, for instance "romaine" lettuce. Some hobbyists feed it straight, some first freeze it, then thaw it, then feed it, and others blanch it first, and then feed it. All methods seem to be acceptable and induce the fish to eat the lettuce quite rapidly and with gusto I should add. Whatever works is all right of course.
A remark on romaine lettuce: note though that the outer leaves of the lettuce should not be used as they are more stringy and harder to digest. The fish may not take a liking to them, giving the hobbyist the impression that they are using the wrong food. This is not the case. These fish will eat romaine lettuce all day if you let them. Throw the outer leaves away and start feeding from the third layer down. You will find that they will eat with great appetite and will continue to do so for as long as their is a supply available. This brings quantity into the equation. Do not overfeed.
Tangs, including these, will eat brine shrimp. This may give you the impression that you are feeding them well since they will devour any brine shrimp they can get hold of. This is a fallacy. Yes, Tangs eat brine shrimp, but feeding them brine shrimp all the time does not supply them with all the nutrients they need. Tangs fed on brine shrimp will develop a sunken belly very rapidly and will soon die if you do not supplement the diet with algae and lettuce or spinach or even broccoli or zucchini. In addition to the sunken belly the fish become very stressed and are likely to break out with parasites, possibly passing them on to other fish in the tank. If this is a reef tank this poses a problem indeed.
These fish would eat all the time if you give them a chance to. Watch how much you feed them or you will find that much of the lettuce you provide is excreted in undigested form. Perhaps you have seen it yourself: little flakes of lettuce floating around the tank. This is a definite sign that you overfeed as the food goes right through the fish and is excreted practically looking the same as it was, except for the bite size of it. Overfeeding is never good. Uneaten and undigested food breaks down in the tank and pollutes the water. Food that decays breaks down into phosphates and nitrates and many amino acids. All are undesirable. The former lead to algae growth and the latter will lead to a pH that shows a tendency to fall for no apparant cause or reason (the cause is the build up in the tank of organic acids, mostly amino ones).
These Tangs are, moreover, very susceptible to disease. Water quality should therefore be really high and vitamin C supplementation is strongly recommended. I am not suggesting that you should add C all year round but, what I do suggest, is that you treat the tank with C a couple of times a year, at the rate of 5 ppm of C for about 14 days. Read the C article in our web site's library (http://www.athiel.com) and follow the directions outlined there and you will find that your fish will have more color, be livelier and will not suffer from disease and parasitic attacks.
Another way to avoid stressing the fish and risking a parasitic outbreak is to maintain stable water quality conditions, especially where it comes to pH and temperature. Quick variations of both of these rapidly lead to the appearance of parasites on these and possibly other fishes.
Vitamin C is an excellent way to prevent this and will even cure diseases that are ususally hard to cure, e.g. Black Spot, fin rot and degradation of the skin. In essence, Vitamin C treats bacterial infections and others as well, as explained in the article refered to. It is free for reading, downloading and printing on your local devices. The vitamin C article is very informative. I really suggest you read it and apply the suggestions made. Your tank and fish as well as invertebrates will greatly benefit from it.
It is best when introducing these fish to do so at night, with all the lights out, after acclimating them to the tank conditions for about 45 minutes or so. The longer you acclimate these fish, the less chances that the fishes will be stressed and break out with parasites. Acclimate real slowly and you will avoid a lot of problems.
If other Tangs are present, especially Yellow ones (Zebrasoma flavescens), it is best to remove them from the tank, house them in a small aquarium for a few days, and reintroduce all the Tangs Back to the main aquarium at the same time. All this requires is a little planning on your side. If you know you are going to buy another Tang, remove the ones in the tank, place them in a small aquarium with minimal amounts of light and filtration (perform water changes as required), and leave them there for a few days. Then, buy your new fish, acclimate it, and when that is over with, add all the fish Back to the tank at the same time. This will greatly reduce infighting as all territories will have been broken up. Rearrange some of the rock in your tank if you wish to make the tank even more different to the fish you already had.
They appear to get along with just about anything in a reef tank and are usually peaceful. They make nice additions to any tank and if you take well care of their requirements you will not run into any problems with them.
Watch out when you move around your tank as these Tangs are shy and may suddenly dash from one end of the tank to another one and may hurt or bruise themselves in the process. This "is" often how bacterial diseases start. Minor lacerations can develop into infections. When you are near to the tank do not make any fast and sudden movements and the fish will not dart or dash around. Tangs seem more susceptible to this than other fish so my suggestion is that you use extreme care. Should a bacterial disease start, you can go to the Library of our web site, an open and download the article on how to treat bacterial diseases. It is free.
In conclusion: Zebrasoma Tangs are very desirable fish but care must be taken of their needs and their specific behaviors. Attention needs to be given to the fact that they are prone to parastic attacks. Feeding the right foods is important and so is paying attention to compatibility. If you observe those few rules you will have few problems, if any, with them and will have added desirable animals to your aquarium.
I have not included any photos. Many can be found in the TFH Enclopedia of Marine Fish though, a book that is recommended to all for identification purposes of fish you own or fish you see in stores or magazines.
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